


Peace and War and Magic and Life (on the Planet Earth).

by Kaoupa



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), The Dresden Files - All Media Types, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-20 14:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17624510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoupa/pseuds/Kaoupa
Summary: Hello, former Homeworld loyalist/Crystal Gem who has been recently freed from the Corruption! Confused as to what happened on Earth the last 5000 years? (Trust us, you missed a whole lot). Here's a more-or-less accurate guide as to what has happened that turned this former gem colony into what it is today - a blending of Homeworld gem technology (which we can only have so much of on account of how it can weaken the reality around it), human culture (we're still trying to get out a lot of the issues that are coming from that), and Crystal Gem beliefs (which were never something that we all agreed on) without too much clashing between everybody.(Trust us, it's still a huge work in progress).





	1. Magic Overview

**Author's Note:**

> A blending of the worlds of Steven Universe and the Dresden Files that I have been thinking of. While the two series are hugely opposed in tone, the themes of free will, personal development, and belief that are present in both blend together very well.
> 
> I'm not really expecting that I will get many readers because of said dissonance between the two series, but I wanted to get this idea out there. I'm not sure that I will ever start an actual story with these, but I hope you enjoy what I am working on.

_Magic comes from life. From life in all forms, whether it be human or gem or otherwise. It is founded in emotions and in change and growth. Emotional attachments to someone or something can stay long after that place or person is gone. Our emotions and our minds do not recognize time as a limit, and sometimes, neither does magic._

_So considering that at least a few Kindergartens were built on planets where we tried to murder all the native life, and how things in the Empire were always really boring and always supposed to stay the same, and everyone was always told they were supposed to be one thing from the moment they came out of the ground, it’s really surprising that we didn’t realize sooner why the old system of creating new gems with life from those planets wasn’t sustainable_ anywhere _in the long term._

**Wardens Air Force Colonel, Nephrite Facet-413 Cabochon-12**

 

Referred to by some as just “magic”, by many gems as “life energy”, others as “chi/ki”, and a hundred other names, magic is a long-standing part of the traditions and cultures of both humanity and gemkind, though it is only since the end of the Dawn Wars on Earth that a deeper understanding of how magic works was spread among the general populace.

How magic can interact with the world around it can vary from case to case, and how magic interacts with somebody can also vary from person to person, and from species to species. In many cases, magic is literally dependent on the user's own belief in it to work - it is impossible to do something with magic that the user does not believe can and should happen.

Because magic is different in every case, while it can be to some degree understood, the universal truth is that magic, like life, can not truly ever be placed into a single category or said to draw on a single truth.

Even more confusing is the seeming planetary division between gems and Earth residents on how magic affects life. While magic usage can increase lifespan vastly (the oldest known human was a female wizard who lived to be 497 years of age before her passing). However, gems have never been known to die of any natural cause, and cannot get sick save through magical means (See Corruption/Corrupted Gems).

Magic usage also is different between species. Gems as a whole are born with magic powers of varying types, displaying them alone their whole life. These powers are in almost all cases the only ones they will ever have, and typically gems cannot gain any new ones or strengthen their magic without outside intervention or fusion. A common theory as to why is that the strengthened magic developed by an extended life in earthlings is that this magic is instead being redirected towards the gem’s physical maintenance and physical immortality. However, given that many immortals native to Earth can strengthen their magic with time and practice, the true underlying cause remains unclear.

Earthlings only first manifest magical power around puberty, and grows stronger throughout their life as long as it is being used, though magical powers can be lost entirely if the practitioner doesn’t use their magic or deliberately tries to remove it. It is also known (though not common) for Earthling magic users to develop skill in an area they are not naturally proficient in through practice.

Attempts to understand the gap between Earth and gem magic have been ongoing since the Dawn Wars, and attempts to find a "unified theory" of magic that can explain all things magical have been ongoing much longer.


	2. Humans: Your new neighbors!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A description of humanity for the average gem.

The currently dominant race of the planet Earth’s physical and, to a lesser degree supernatural landscapes, humanity is the main sapient race that is native to Earth. Gems are a close second in terms of influence, though in terms of population the “neighboring” faeries remain a close rival (accurate population counts being difficult due to the Nevernever, their Facet of residence, being unstable geographically). 

Due to the influence of a few uncorrupted gems during humanity’s early history, humans as a whole were receptive enough of gem kind after initial interactions. After the end of the Dawn Wars, full-on integration of human and gem societies started taking place on Earth, and gems can go on a walk in most human cities without comment.

The current human population stands at around 3.2 billion over the planet Earth and the currently-developing Moon colony. Due to the lack of development into a spaceship capable of leaving Earth’s solar system, as well as the deconstruction of all gem spaceships on Earth, there are currently no Earth colony worlds besides the developing colony on the Moon.

Human technology is by itself noticeably less efficient and powerful than gem technology, but has been leaping forwards due to efforts to merge the two, to both reduce environmental damage and find ways of keeping civilization sustainable without causing permanent damage to Earth’s biosphere. Also, a number of issues or flaws in older technology have been found and dealt with due to recent work in finding ways of making gem technology reproducible with human manufacturing systems.

Humans also need several hours of rest on a daily basis due to their organic physiology, typically during the period known as “night” when their part of the planet is facing away from the sun (see “Sleep” for a more detailed description). Sustenance is also required to be ingested by them, typically sourced from other organics who are not sapient or from plant life (see “Eating” for a more detailed description). To regulate their heat and bodily processes, humans must also ingest liquids (see “Drinking” for a more detailed description) in order to survive (typically dihydrogen monoxide, H2O, or water). Lastly, humans require oxygen in order to function, typically by breathing it in from gases in the surrounding area (see "Breathing" for a more detailed description).

Over time, a handful of gems have taken up these practices of their own volition - there are several groups where one can do so with other practicers of multiple gem types.

Human culture and society is far more extensive and confusing than Homeworld society, due partially to the finite lifespans all humans possess preventing a single leader from rising up to guide their society, though multiple attempts have been made to take over all of Earth (or at least part of it) by human civilizations in the past. 

While human civilization as a whole has grown somewhat more homogenous in recent times, areas only a few hundred kilometers apart can still have wildly different traditions, customs, and culture. Humans can also, and in some places are expected to, perform multiple functions or duties throughout their lives, adapting as needed to fulfill each of them, and even humans from the same “family” (similar to a Cut or Cabochan) can have very different appearances, preferences, or duties in society. The only way to be certain what a human’s job or preference will be is to ask.

Humans also possess magical abilities as a species akin to gems, but like their society as a whole, their abilities and specialties can be difficult to determine at first glance, and many humans do not possess magic strongly enough for heavily visible abilities.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more or less meant to serve as a gem's viewpoint on humans, and how they work compared to the homogenous Homeworld. I'm not sure I really managed to get everything right for that POV, though.


	3. Gem-Human Hybrid Technology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An overlook on how gems and humans began to work together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gems rely on magic to run some of their technology, it always seemed to me. And well, since magic comes from life, if you're not careful that can cause issues.

While even after 5000 years, gem technology and knowledge remains more advanced than humanity's (save in areas like biomedical research the gems never looked into), numerous issues have come up with many gem sites on Earth in that time. Being left unmaintained since the end of the Rebellion means that a large number of sites fell into disrepair. 

Blueprints were not always recoverable for many gem sites and for gem technology due to this lack of maintenance, meaning that even after the White Council was able to start having some of its members help heal the Corruption, the only areas that remained in constant use were the Forge and the Crystal Temple.

The Dawn Wars made this situation worse, as large numbers of humans and supernatural beings tried to pillage gem sites in order to gain the technological advances within. While not all of the sites had technology that could be taken out or understood, damage was done to many of them, and several collapsed or had to be abandoned entirely.

After the end of said wars in the 1960s, human society and the Earth gems had both been vastly damaged. And given that the existence of gems and the supernatural was now common knowledge, and that integration between the two had already begun at this point, most humans and gems believed that they should cooperate to rebuild the world.

Issues became apparent, however. Most gem technology was reliant upon magic to work - magic that was generated and drawn from living things. It was eventually determined that because of this, gem technology would only at first be used in areas with a heavy population density or areas with a ley line to draw on. The less magic-reliant versions to be developed later would be used in areas with fewer people.

Initial tests of gem technology that was too heavily magic-reliant led to the magic of the surrounding areas being drained if there were not enough life forms around to indirectly create magic to power them, causing an effect similar to that of a Kindergarten. 

In areas with very little life, this could lead to the barriers between the spiritual world (see “Nevernever”) and the physical world weakening. The weakening of said borders could allow entities that could normally not enter the material world to do so (a number of them either non-sapient or hostile). On most gem planets, this is an issue normally not present due to the spiritual-growth deprived nature of gem society. On Earth, with literally hundreds of differing cultures and beliefs, the spiritual world is far more active and far more potentially deadly.

Since most of the gem technology manufacturing areas on Earth either were never completed or had been looted by this time, changes had to be made. And while many areas were damaged, human factories remained intact across the globe, and humans in several countries had started to attempt to replicate gem technology on their own with advising from the uncorrupted gems. It was decided that this would be the base of the society to come after the end of the Dawn Wars.

Even today, researchers work together to further reverse-engineer gem developments or find new uses for them, and rework them to use the laws of physics where possible, and reduce their need to draw on magic to work.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this came late, I was spending time with my family on Sunday for the Super Bowl - i'm not a football fan, though.


	4. Corruption and Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As close to an understanding of the phenomenon known as Corruption that has been developed over time.

The Gem Corruption was an curse attack launched by Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and White Diamond at the end of the Gem Rebellion on Earth, and was responsible for the mental and physical twisting of nearly every gem on the planet at the time. The only gems to escape the effect were Rose Quartz, Garnet (a fusion made up of a Ruby and a Sapphire), and the Renegade Pearl, who were both near her at the time. An Amethyst who had yet to emerge in the Prime Kindergarten, and Bismuth, the current weapons master of the Crystal Gems, who was bubbled at the time, were also spared from the effects.

How the Corruption works is unclear, given that trying to reproduce it would be a violation of multiple Laws of Magic. Of the Diamonds present on Earth, none have the same powers as the three who launched the attack, and without volunteers to study, analyzing a Diamond in action does not give a link to others due to their different magic inclinations. The present theory is that the closest analogy humans possess is the “bloodline” curse, such as those that affect Loop-Garou werewolves. The Loop-Garou curse is powered by the victims themselves, using their own magic and blood as a source to continue running throughout their lives, and being passed down to their offspring. While gems can have offspring with humans, there is no record of any Corrupted Gem ever having a child.

Given the near-godlike/godly status of the Diamonds in gem society, and the typical requirement of a near-godlike being or god to place long-term bloodline curses on humans which can be passed down genetically, and morality or volunteer constraints, this theory is unlikely to be contradicted. Given that corruptions are reported to often be less physically dangerous and mentally capable than the gems who they used to be, the “magic drawing on their host” theory is generally deemed the most fitting.

While attempts were made over the next 2000 years by the Crystal Gems to heal their comrades, none of them possessed enough raw power or the necessary “specializations” of magic. Fusion attempts, while possessing enough power to counter the spell, were not specialized enough in their abilities to heal the damage done by a curse cast by three near-gods who possessed power over the minds and bodies of other gems.

Even with the connection provided to the Diamonds by Rose Quartz’s healing tears, lasting progress was not made until the gems came into contact with an Australian Ngangkari healer. After working in conjunction with the Crystal Gems, she was able to work out that the curse was a forced alteration of their physical and spiritual bodies. And while Rose’s powers were by themselves enough to “open the gate” for the curse to be broken, they would need outside help to permanently allow the corrupted gems to live with the effects.

While no unified magical government existed at the time, the Crystal Gems were able to eventually call on favors and for aid from several dozen different magical healers from multiple cultures around the world to help them begin a healing process for the corrupted gems. 

This was done by first stabilizing their minds and emotions from the curse, before their bodies were returned to normal over time. However, the process remains both extensive in time required and is potentially dangerous, given that the corrupted gems could potentially reform at any time. Claims by the Crystal Gems say that around a dozen human healers were badly injured once in the process of treating the corrupted gems when one escaped briefly.

Even today, while corrupted gems have become more and more rare due to concentrated efforts by the gem population of earth to find and capture their brethren so they can be healed, there are still common reports in isolated areas of them descending and causing damage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are several Laws of Magic in the Dresden Files, and among them is that it’s illegal to turn someone’s body into something else, go into someone else’s mind without their permission, or mentally enslave someone else. However, it’s also possible to heal the damage done by these given time, a skilled practitioner, and that the damage done wasn’t beyond repair (all of which were present here).
> 
> This is more or less the “Nail” of this AU, and what starts the changes later. Basically, with the aid of human magic-users the Crystal Gems were able to start healing their comrades without the Diamonds.


End file.
